You know how people say encouraging or motivational things like ‘Just be yourself’ or ‘You are the only problem you’ll ever have and also, the only solution.’? Well I started getting curious about exactly who this inner person they were describing was, and wanted to get to know exactly what makes me tick a little better. With that in mind, I set off on a self-exploration journey, to take the Myers-Briggs personality test (3 times because I wanted to be sure the results were accurate and not just based on my mood at that moment).

What I found out was strikingly accurate; almost like someone who really knew me well had been following me around making observations for years, not the 20 minutes it took to take the test. Very specific things not horoscope level generalities that could apply to any given person. Having this info spelled out in black in white was hugely helpful for me. Here are some insights that I noticed as a result of taking the test and you probably will too.

1) You’ll understand other people’s behaviors better because you understand your own better.

For example, I learned that the extroverted side of my personality gets energy from engaging with other people. Many of you may be thinking ‘So?’. This may be because you are also somewhat extroverted as well. The real revelation was that everyone isn’t this way. Introverts (this isn’t simply the same as being shy) get their energy and rejuvenation from being away from people. It allows them to recharge, where as it usually makes me slow down.

2) You’ll get validation for specific behaviors in yourself.

Apparently people with my personality type workout as a means of dealing with stress. What a terrible habit, I know. At least now, I know that I don’t really need to overthink this behavior in myself.

3) You’ll better and more consciously understand what you need-Free time, time to connect with people, time away from people, social interaction, etc.

4) You’ll better understand things you’re not good at.

This is so valuable because other people rarely tell you constructive things, especially when they’re negative, in a well-meaning attempt to spare your feelings, even though it’s specifically this feedback that gives the most insight into the parts of you that you’d prefer not to look at. For this reason they can be extremely helpful. This being said, negativity is not the same as constructive criticism or guidance.

5) You’ll understand and value the ways other people are different from you and be more aware and able to harness them, instead of trying to make them like you.

I’m not great at focusing on details for long periods of time, instead I gravitate toward the process and the environment and outcome around the details. I am however good at focusing on concepts and Theories, and creative aspects of a project for longer amounts of time than others. I pair well and appreciate people that do have this complimentary attention to detail, and can keep it for long periods of time, on subjects I cannot, gravitating toward specifics. In fact, I learn a great deal from them when I’m around them.

6) You can use it to guide how you approach tasks in your career, or choose your next career steps, or guide your life path in general.

For example, my personality does best when paired with tasks and activities that involve other people.

7) You’ll understand weird stuff you didn’t know about how you approach the world.

Apparently I’m a judger (Strangely this is not the same as being judgmental), meaning I like to draw conclusions from my curiosity about people, places, things, and situations. I speculate about meaning, as I gather information about people, places, things, and situations. Seems perfectly normal to me, so you can imagine my shock when I realized, some people don’t do this. They instead, prefer to keep gathering more information and just experience things, while not necessarily concluding what they may mean, just experiencing it. I had no idea that this was even a concept before running down the Meyers-Briggs experience corridor.

The skeptic in me wonders how accurate the whole personality archatyping thing even is, but the pragmatist in me thinks that, if it’s an effective way or better understanding different types of people, then perhaps the outcome supports and shows the benefit of exploring the concept.

If you’d like to take the personality test yourself you can do so at 16personalities.com. Then you can simply invest some time in learning about your personality type on youtube. There is also an expanded deeper dive article that can be purchased on 16 personalities is you want more info. I think it was $30 or so.